Botanical Printing on a Big Gelli Plate: Easy, Intuitive Techniques

Have you ever wanted to make your own beautiful, botanical-inspired collage papers?

In this tutorial, I’m sharing how I use my large Gelli plate to create fresh, organic prints—perfect for mixed media work. I’ll walk you through my process, from building soft layers with my favourite paint colours and papers, to sharing some helpful tips for printing more intuitively.

I’ll also show you how I use these prints in a couple of sweet little projects—decorating wooden houses and balsa wood panels. I’ll add some detail to the panels with my favourite pens and finish them off with a coat of resin. You’ll find photos at the end so you can see how they turned out, along with links so you can try it yourself!

Once you see how fun and freeing this process is, I hope you’ll feel inspired to give it a go.

Let's get started!

Watch the full video tutorial here:

Materials You’ll Need:

Gel Plate:

I’m working with my 16 x 20" Gelli plate. While you can absolutely try these techniques on a smaller plate, I find the larger surface gives me more flexibility when it comes to creating both small and large prints.

Plant Material:

I like to gather a variety of shapes and sizes—leafy stems, small flowers, and a few bigger bits too—so I can work intuitively as I go. You can use fresh or dried plants, but the flatter they are, the better your results will be. In the summer, I like to press fresh plants from the garden so I’ve got a stash of botanicals to use all year round.

Acrylic Paint:

For this tutorial, I'm using some of my favourite colours: Teal, Indigo, Cerulean Blue, Buff Titanium, Titanium White, Iridescent Green Yellow, Phthalo Blue, Raw Umber, and Gold. I’m working with a mix of Daler-Rowney, Pébéo Acrylics, Golden Fluid Acrylics, and Golden Open Acrylics.

Tip: The Open Acrylics give you a longer working time to pull your prints and are brilliant for picking up fine details.

Paper:

Each paper brings its own unique feel, so I’ll be using a mix—from inexpensive sketchbook paper (about the same weight as copy paper), to heavy A2 cartridge paper (170GSM). I’ve also brought in some lovely transparent wet-strength tissue papers, including my favourite, Maruishi. These tissue papers are perfect for layering in collage work.

Tools:

You’ll need a rubber roller, called a brayer, to layer the paint across the plate. I also like using a round, flat printmaking tool called a baren to help press the paper down to ensure good contact between the plants and the paper. You can use a clean brayer for this, but I find the baren is gentler on delicate papers.

Tip: I’ve covered my baren in fabric because I didn’t like the scratchy noise it made!

I’ve got my art materials, plants, and tools all ready—and now it’s time for the fun part: printing!

Part 1

We’ll begin by applying a small amount of Cerulean Blue paint straight onto the gel plate. Using my brayer, I gently roll it out into a smooth, even layer—just enough to cover the surface without streaks or thick patches. I'm aiming for a clean base that will beautifully capture the textures of my plant materials.

Tip: Use the brayer in smooth, long strokes to achieve a uniform layer—lifting the brayer off the plate with each stroke for the best result, rather than rolling back and forth like you would if painting a wall.

Now that we’ve got a lovely even layer of paint, it’s time to add some plants.

I’m using a few of the same leaf shapes here—nice and flat, so they pick up the paint well—and placing them in different directions across the surface of the gel plate. I like to let the shapes overlap slightly or curve naturally as they would in the garden.

Don’t overthink it too much! The goal is to create a soft, organic feel that will come through in the print.

I apply a sheet of paper over the top (I’m using sketchbook paper). I gently smooth it out with my fingertips, pressing around the leaves to ensure the paper makes good contact with the paint.

Then I carefully peel the paper off.

Once I've pulled your first layer, I flip the paper from top to bottom and place it back onto the gel plate.

Tip: It’s important to work quickly to prevent the paint from drying.

Once again, I gently smooth the paper out with my hands, then roll over it with the brayer to ensure full contact.

I slowly pull the paper off to reveal the second layer.

Now, I carefully remove the leaves one at a time, ensuring that I don't smudge the paint underneath.

Once the leaves are removed, I place the paper back onto the plate to pull the next layer. This will capture those intricate impressions left by the leaves.

Next, I want to capture the ghost print—that lovely, faint impression left behind by the residual paint on the gel plate. I’m rolling out a small amount of Buff Titanium in a thin, even layer to help lift it.

Tip: Sometimes you can pull the ghost print without adding more paint, but if the paint left on the plate has dried too much, this extra layer really helps to lift it off.

I lay a piece of wet-strength tissue over the print, smoothing it with my hands. I also use my baren, very gently, to add a little more pressure.

Then, I pull the tissue up carefully to reveal the print. The result is a lovely outline, and because I've used wet-strength tissue paper, it will be perfect for layering in a future painting.

Part 2

For the next impression, I’m repeating the same leaf shape, but this time I’m using Indigo, a slightly darker blue. I think layering the darker Indigo over the print I just made with Cerulean Blue will create a lovely contrast.

I place the paper down, smoothing it out gently to make sure the paint makes good contact, especially around the leaves, and then carefully pull it up to reveal the next layer.

Once again, I turn the paper around in the opposite direction to get a fresh perspective on the print.

I smooth it out with my hands, then use the baren gently to help pick up the leaf impressions. Then, I carefully pull up the paper.

I do like the contrast between the colours, though I feel this print might be a bit too busy.

Now I'm going to see if I can lift any of the remaining paint left on the gel plate, using the same tissue print I made earlier.

This is a great way to add subtle layers and texture to existing prints!

Next, I carefully remove the leaves.

Then I place the same tissue print back onto the gel plate, smoothing it out gently with my hands to make sure it picks up all those lovely leaf impressions.

I pull the print up slowly so I don't tear it.

I’m really pleased with how much detail it's picked up!

Now I’m going to capture that ghost print again, this time using a little bit of iridescent green yellow—it's such a lovely colour for picking up delicate details.

I’m using Maruishi paper here, one of my favourite thin papers for layering. You can lift a wee corner just to check if it’s dry enough to pull. If it’s still a bit tacky, a quick blast with the hair dryer on a cool setting will help it along.

Pull it up gently from the surface.

I’ve slightly torn my tissue paper—these things happen—but I’m really happy with how it’s turned out!

Part 3

Now, I'm trying a small experiment to calm down the busyness of my first print. I've used some white paint and a mix of different shaped leaves, placing them all over the gel plate.

It’s helped a little, but it’s still a bit too busy for my taste.

Now I’m going to lift off the excess paint from the gel plate with some of my heavy weight paper.

Next, I remove the leaves to reveal the impressions they’ve left behind.

Then I place the heavier paper back over the plate, smooth it out gently with my hands, and remove it to reveal the print.

I think that’s really nice!

Last step is to try to pick up the ghost print with a bit of gold paint and a piece of tissue paper.

The combination of white and gold gives a really subtle effect—soft and delicate—especially on the tissue. It’ll be lovely for layering later on.

Part 4

For this next part, I’ve created a lovely, deep teal by mixing Titan Buff, Phthalo Blue, and Raw Umber. I’m using Open Acrylics because they stay wet a bit longer, giving me more time to play around with the composition.

I’ll roll a thin layer over my busy print to see if it helps calm things down a bit.
I think that’s worked quite well!

Now I’m going to pull up the remaining paint left on the gel plate, right on top of the tissue print I made in Part 2.
I'm very pleased with both of these!

Part 5

I'm starting off with another layer of teal blended with my Open Acrylics, rolled out to a thin, even layer.

This time, I’m going to try using some daisies and filling in some of the open spaces with some ferns. I’m not sure if the daisies will work because they’re not completely flat, but I’m giving it a go!
Tip: Generally, pressed, dried flowers work best on the gelli plate since they’re flat and leave a clearer impression.

Now, I place a piece of tissue paper over the top, and with my hands, I gently press around the plant material so it makes good contact with the paint. I carefully remove the tissue to reveal the print.

Last step is to remove the daisies and ferns, and then pull the ghost print using a piece of tissue paper.

Part 6

This time, I'm trying out a layer of Golden Fluid Acrylics in Teal on the gel plate — it’s a lovely opaque paint that will create a strong, solid background.

Tip: As the name suggests, this paint is quite a thin consistency, so be mindful not to use too much!

Next, I arrange the leaves in an organic pattern across the entire surface of the gel plate.

For this layer, I’m using the heavier cartridge paper I printed at the end of Part 3.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out, with the subtle print from earlier peeking through the open spaces and adding depth.

Next, I gently press my tissue paper print from Part 5 onto the gel plate to pick up the remaining teal paint.

I gently press my hands around the leaves so I can capture all those details.

Oh, I really like this one! It’s lovely—in fact, I think this might be my favourite print so far.

Next, I remove the leaves and apply a layer of Buff Titanium onto the gel plate to help lift off the ghost print. I lay a fresh piece of tissue paper down and pull carefully.

That’s worked really well! The combination of Buff Titanium and Teal has created some beautiful areas.

There are some lovely spots here that I can use for the little wooden houses. I’m really happy with how this has turned out!

Now, I pause to clean up the gel plate. I do this by taking a clean sheet of paper and gently going around the gel plate, picking up as much of the remaining paint as I can from the surface.

These papers are always a bit of a surprise — sometimes they turn out absolutely beautifully, with unexpected textures and layers!

For my last set of prints, I’m using my favourite teal blend again, along with these fern-type leaves scattered across the surface.

I’ve pulled the first print onto some tissue, and I really like these prints with the open areas: when you lay them down over another print, the base print shows through, which adds some lovely depth.

Tip: It's important to create prints like this, with clear open spaces, and keep them just as they are for layering in future collage projects.

Now, I’ve removed the leaves to pull the ghost print, and as soon as I see it, I immediately know which paper I’m going to use!
I’m going to layer it onto the gold tissue paper I made at the end of Part 3.

Just as I hoped, the teal and gold make a beautiful combination, creating a really lovely, subtle effect.

I’m really happy with the results of that printing session! I’ve ended up with a lovely collection of papers.

My plan is to take these papers and use them to decorate three sweet little houses to create some charming shelf decorations.

I think they turned out great!

Tip: You can see exactly how I attach them in the video Transforming Botanical Prints into Adorable Wooden Houses.

I’ve also got these little balsa wood panels, and I’ve already attached some of these papers to them.

I’m going to add more detail with my favourite pens, and then I’ll finish them off with a layer of resin.

Tip: You can see exactly how it's done in my blog How To Resin A Gelli Print.

I hope you enjoyed following along with this printing session and picked up some helpful tips!

Remember, gel plate printing is a very intuitive process, and the more you practice, the easier it becomes. You’ll soon get a feel for what works and what doesn’t.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my newsletter so you never miss a new tutorial. I also offer a FREE course called The Essence of Landscape, where I teach how to turn your prints into finished paintings.

Happy printing!